Black Steel Gajeel
by Lichenwing
Summary: Gajeel hadn't always been a dragon slayer. He hadn't always known Fairy Tail, or Levy, or Pantherlily. But you know what? All of that didn't matter. They were there now. (Sub-genre humor. Will begin as origin story, but grow into more. It will usually follow cannon, but there are some planned differences. GaLe, traces of NaLu.) ON HIATUS!
1. Ch 1 -- Of Dragons and Dreamers

**Hello, and welcome to** ** _Black Steel Gajeel!_** **This is a prologue of sorts, and will not be focused on your favorite Iron Dragon Slayer, but on the dragon that raised him. Hope you enjoy! (Also, I own nothing but a laptop and my twisted, irreparable mind.)**

 **-Lichenwing**

* * *

 **Black Steel Gajeel**

 **Ch. 1**

 **Of Dragons and Dreamers**

* * *

Five dragons perched atop the rocky cliff, each comparable in size with a mansion. Their scales ranged from scarlet red to midnight black, and their eyes shone with a keen intelligence. At the foot of the sheer drop at which they crouched, a glassy lake spread out as far as the eye could see. It's surface shimmered with an eerie iridescence, and each of the huge beasts stared into it with determination.

If you looked close enough at the lake, you could see shadowy shapes flickering across the water, almost like a muted video tape was being projected onto it. If you looked even closer, the blurry forms would begin to take shape into people, trees, houses. And if you had a dragon's eyesight, the images would seem as clear as if the events playing out on the lake's surface were actually happening right in front of you.

The red dragon's tail flicked back and forth like that of an aggravated cat. "This is taking much too long." His voice's deep baritone sent shivers across the water, and the silvery-scaled dragon sitting next to him scoffed.

"It's supposed to take a while, Igneel." Metalicana was almost always fed up with his impatient younger cousin. But who wasn't? The supposed 'Fire Dragon King' could barely sit still long enough to have a decent conversation with a rodent, let alone a beast as sophisticated as another dragon.

"What did you say, metal head?" Igneel growled, locking horns with his cousin. Thus began a wrestling match of sorts, with the two reptilian beasts leaning into one another and spouting unsavory comments.

"Well, this is interesting." Weisslogia commented from the sidelines, leaning into her twin brother, Skiadrum. The dark, heavy-lidded dragon rumbled his agreement.

Grandeeney discreetly muttered a few things about how much better humans were than dragons.

Metalicana growled. "Oh, you wanna go there, do you?" The two scuffling males payed no heed to the other dragons, focusing their glares on one another only. Soon their voices had raised to such a crescendo that their friends couldn't even hear themselves think.

After a few more minutes of the intense bickering, Weisslogia decided she had finally had enough. "Boys," she said in a cool voice, waltzing right up to them. When they refused to let up, barely even noticing their smaller white-scaled friend, her usually gentle eyes narrowed. "Boys." Now her voice had a bit more iron to it, but the two cousins still continued to argue. "Fine," Weisslogia hissed. Skiadrum, the only one who noticed his sister's growing anger, backed away, dragging a plaintive Grandeeney along with him.

Of course, Grandeeney internally thanked the gods for Skiadrum's brotherly instinct as soon as Weisslogia began to glow. Though she was considerably smaller than the average dragon, the female was well known for her ruthless, lightning-quick magic.

Before her targets even had a chance to blink, Weisslogia leaped up, spreading her wings, and whipped her long tail out from behind her. All of the white glow emanating from her body had already concentrated down in that seventh limb, and when her tail made contact with the two troublemakers, they didn't stand a chance.

There was a splash as they landed in the lake below.

"Oops." Weisslogia grimaced, turning to her brother. "I think I might have gone a bit overboard."

Skiadrum shrugged, not at all fazed. "Meh."

* * *

As he flew back up to the summit of the cliff, Metalicana shook the water from his scales. He wasn't going to fight with Igneel again any time soon. Or, at least not in front of Weisslogia.

* * *

"Now then," Weisslogia said in a condescending tone. "Are you ready to behave?" Two damp and humiliated dragons begrudgingly lowered their heads in compliance. Metalicana could already feel his scales rusting over, and Igneel's competitive flame had finally been extinguished.

Temporarily.

"Let's go over what we are doing here once again." Now it was Grandeeney's turn to patronize her kin. "We are here to choose our _legacies._ The people we will teach our _magic,_ and whom we will place upon a _great deal_ of importance."

"Not to mention that they are basically going to be our children…" Skiadrum murmured under his breath. He knew that the other two male dragons were most definitely not ready for the responsibility of parenthood, even if they did adopt an uncultured orphan as intended. These dragons needed dragon slayers, but they weren't about to kidnap a child with parents of his or her own. The plan was to search with his Shadow Sight spell for children who had been orphaned, and _then_ take them in. So far, they had had no luck. The shadow dragon wasn't sure if he should be pleased or disappointed that so few orphans existed in Fiore.

Igneel huffed, though whether it was towards Skiadrum or Grandeeney, one could not be sure. "We get it. Now let's go pick out some kids already!" He scampered back to the edge of the cliff and was soon squinting into the watery depths with new vigor.

Metalicana rolled his eyes, but still walked over to settle back on the summit.

Skiadrum and Weisslogia curled back up next to one another.

Grandeeney sat a few meters away from the rest of the group.

The black drake was the first to speak up. "Have we tried the Boundary Forest yet?" His sister shook her head, and Skiadrum stood up, untangling his tail from Weisslogia's. He took a few steps forward, then, so fast that he was just a blur of gray, he dived off the edge of the cliff. Though the other four dragons stared, flabbergasted, at the lingering dust cloud where Skiadrum had been standing, their smaller white counterpart just smiled peacefully. About half way down, the dark dragon thrust out his wings. He was yanked violently up by the wind, and his muscles would be sore for a few days, but he had done what was needed. Skiadrum was now floating gently down towards the lake. When he got close enough to touch the water with his snout, he spoke softly, "Shadow Sight, Boundary Forest."

The water started to bubble. A small amount at first, but then more, and more, and more, until the lake had been completely taken over by froth. But Skiadrum didn't recoil. The water was still cool to the touch, even if it appeared hot enough to burn a human's skin from their bones. Still, he flew back up to sit with his twin and inspect his handiwork.

After a few moments, the fizz began to clear away, and there in the water was a crystal-clear depiction of a forest. Or, more accurately, a war zone. Trees twisted up in gradual battles for sunlight, and the birds in their boughs wrestled for every scrap of fruit available to them. The monsters that the woodland were famous for trampled everything in their path as they wandered aimlessly, titans in their own right.

The gathered dragons scrutinized every inch of that forest, Skiadrum calling out for the images to zoom in or out. But, after an hour of relentless searching, the lack of results was starting to grate on their nerves. They had looked everywhere, but had absolutely nothing to show for it.

Then, Grandeeney gasped. "S-stop!" She called, bluish-white feathers rising on the nape of her neck. Startled, Skiadrum obliged. "There." The sky dragon pointed with a slightly shivering claw. "Found o-one."

Sure enough there was a small child, barely even a toddler, sitting petrified in the shadow of the thorny brush. Her long, unruly blue hair was adorned with leaves and nettles, and scrapes ran up and down her body. Her ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle, and as she tried to stand up her face was contorted by the pain. A panther was sleeping less than five feet away, chest easily rising up and down.

In less than a second, Grandeeney was gone. The only trace that she had ever been there was the lingering smell of pine trees.

"Well," Igneel stated the obvious, "I guess that means that the bluenette is Grandeeney's."

"We looked over the entire Boundary Forest, let's just look somewhere else." Weisslogia nudged her brother, and Skiadrum complied, leaping from the edge once again. The small dragon barely had enough time to call "TRY CROCUS!" before her counterpart had reached the water. A small flick of a midnight tail signified he had heard her, and then Skiadrum whispered to the lake:

"Shadow Sight, Crocus."

The town was large, larger than any other place in Fiore. People bustled back and forth, stopping to chat with one another. Vendors called out from their stalls, attempting to sell their wares to the passerby. It was surprisingly clean, with only the occasional bit of litter on the street. And there he was. A small boy with salmon-colored hair and tattered clothing, running up and down the street and calling for someone, anyone, to notice him.

But, the venders pushed him away. The bustling people shoved him out of their path. Those in conversation were unwilling to talk to him.

"Two. I got this one." Igneel said, serious for once. He spread out his mammoth, blood-red wings and sprung into the sky.

"Three to go."

Two boys closer to the bluenette in age, one a messy blonde, the other with a dark curtain of hair hanging over one eye. They sat together on a bench, watching people walk past with somber eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know why.

"Ours, but I can't go yet." Skiadrum turned to Metalicana. "Pick 'em fast."

They looked up and down Crocus, Magnolia, and many other cities, but there was not another orphan to be found. Metalicana sighed. "You go — I'm fine without." Skiadrum looked unsure, but he also looked about ready to take his sister and run. " _Go,"_ the larger silver dragon urged, "You can do without one more dragon slayer."

And that was the only persuasion the smaller drakes needed. The twins were gone in a streak of black and white. After they had disappeared from the horizon, Metalicana stood up slowly, making an act of stretching his long legs. Then, his tail smashed against the ground and pushed him up into the sky; in a snapping gust of air, his wings were open, and he was soaring away from the cliff and the lake at its feet.

"Don't need another dragon slayer…" He muttered as he flew. Even though they were his own words, they stung. Did the world not want him to pass on his legacy? What were the chances of there only being four parent-needing orphans that had not yet been picked up by an orphanage in all of Fiore? But, he decided, this drake was not going to take no for an answer. Metalicana beat his wings harder and sped across the barren landscape that was the no-man's-land between the human and dragon territories. His spade-shaped muzzle cut through the frigid air like a knife through paper. No, this drake was not about to take no for an answer.

Soon, as the sun fell below the skyline, the trees began to grow greener, and the sounds of bird songs populated the air once more. The silhouettes of houses could be seen in the distance, and if he looked hard enough, he could see small shapes running back and forth. And… fire?

As he got closer, Metalicana's eyes widened. This small, peaceful-looking village on the edge of nowhere was under raid.

Screams pierced through the night air, shrill noises that would keep him up at night for years to come. Heavyset men wielding axes, swords, guns; they all raced across the town, terrorizing it's inhabitants.

"Kill the adults! Take the children!" A particularly large man bellowed from atop his horse. His men scrambled to obey him. Soon, carcasses littered the ground, and Metalicana's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the mayhem that he was now directly above. He snorted and went into a dive.

"EEEEEK!" went the man and his horse as Metalicana picked them up with one huge forepaw. The raiders stared at their now blubbering leader with wide eyes. The children took the chance to wiggle themselves out of their attacker's grasps and ran off in the opposite direction.

That is, except for one.

The boy was small, with a untamable head of raven-black hair shoved up into a tattered cap. He stared up at the dragon with wide eyes, halfway through kicking his captor in a particularly tender area. The boy's leg dropped to the ground, and he staggered over to Metalicana, mesmerized. The dragon, in turn, tossed the man and his horse away half-heartedly. They screeched as they disappeared into the distance, and the rest of the raiders abandoned the village, racing after their leader. Metalicana bent down until his chin was almost touching the ground, and then he opened his mouth to speak.

"What's your name?"

"G-Gajeel. Sir. I mean Dragon. I mean—" The boy, who Metalicana now knew to be called Gajeel, stuttered helplessly until the dragon nodded his approval, and abruptly stopped talking.

"I am Metalicana, otherwise known as the Iron Dragon." Metalicana curled his long tail around and gently touched it to Gajeel's back. "Where are your parents, child?"

A tear slipped out of one of the boy's eyes. He pointed, eyes glued to his feet. When Metalicana's eyes came to rest on the area where Gajeel was pointing, he sucked in a sharp breath. A house, burned completely to the ground. And a few bones in the ashes.

"Tell you what," The dragon's voice quivered. "How about you come with me?" Gajeel nodded furiously at the question, and Metalicana bent down even more. He lowered his long neck to the ground, and as if the boy had read his mind, he scrambled up, gripping onto the drake's horns.

Together, they soared away from the remains of Gajeel's village.

Maybe the world wanted Metalicana to have a son after all.

* * *

 **BOOM! FIRST CHAPTER DOWN! Please review! Suggestions make me write better. :)**


	2. Ch 2 -- Of Memories and Malice

**Hi! I'm not sure how good my last chapter was, because I can't really judge my own writing - but I thing Metalicana was sort of out of character at the end, and Gajeel just saying "Okay! I'm going to fly off on a back of a dragon!" was weird. :( I'm sure this one will be better, and the whole Gajeel thing will be explained. Also, it is going to be easier to write about Gajeel and Metalicana than it was Metalicana and the rest of the dragons, as Gajeel's character is more developed, and there are more ways to refer to a human then there is to refer to a dragon. (Also, there is going to be some father/son fluff XD) Once again, I do not own Fairy Tail.**

 **-Lichenwing**

* * *

 **Black Steel Gajeel**

 **Ch. 2**

 **Of Memories and Malice**

* * *

Gajeel was filled with pure elation. The wind stirring his hair, the air buffeting his raw skin. All of it filled him to the brim with delight. He let out a "WHOOP!" and smiled even wider. Nothing could ruin this. Not even the fact that he knew that he would regret this in the morning, that he wasn't even sure of what he was doing anymore he was so tired.

 _Why did I get on the giant lizard's back again?_ Gajeel thought, before his mind drifted away once more.

Not even the fact that Gajeel felt like he was moving through water, and that he had earmuffs on. Not even the constant nagging at the back of his head, the grief, the memories begging to be released could ruin this.

Gajeel's parents had been average people. They worked, they provided, they loved.

Or at least, they loved each other.

But not him. No, not their demon-eyed son.

The cap cast shadows over Gajeel's disfigurements, but they were still there. Two eyes, red as blood. The Jashi. The evil eyes.

"Not natural," the adults had whispered.

"Freak," the other children had jeered.

"Demon," the priest had concluded.

"Not our son," his parents had said. But they hadn't had the heart to get rid of him. Instead, they used charms and various cheap knickknacks to 'ward off the evil spirits.' They fed him just enough food to keep him alive. And they constantly reminded him who he was. Gajeel, the orphan. Gajeel, the demon-eyed boy.

"Such generous people," the adults had whispered.

"Even your own parents don't really want you," the other children had jeered.

"You should get rid of him while you still can," the priest had concluded.

Ever since he was old enough to understand what others thought of him, Gajeel had worn that tattered cap atop his head. Then, even though people he already knew recognized him, strangers might not immediately scorn his demon eyes. Until someone told them, that is.

Then they were just like everyone else.

So that was why, even now, in the clouds, Gajeel kept one hand off Metalicana's horn in order to keep his hat firmly on his head.

So that was why his grief was easily repressible, why he hadn't quite cared enough to insist the dragon stay in the village until everyone was safe.

Gajeel's smile fell into a sullen frown. Demon eyes. What the heck were those? There probably wasn't even such thing. His eyes were red because… because they were just red! Not because of some stupid curse. If there was, his parents would have regretted their neglect long ago.

Long, long ago.

"Hey, kid." Metalicana said roughly. Gajeel's entire body shook as the dragon spoke, vibrations running up and down the drake's form. "What was the name of that village again?" The dragon sounded a small bit embarrassed. _Weird,_ Gajeel thought. _It never occurred to me that a creature like him could get embarrassed. I wonder why._

"Semotus, why?" Gajeel answered.

Metalicana coughed. "I… might… be a little lost…"

"Lost!?" The boy exclaimed in disbelief, though his tongue felt like rubber and it took far too long to get the words out.

The dragon hissed. "Shut up kid! Igneel might be here somewhere…" He whipped his scaled head around as if searching for someone else in the empty sky.

Gajeel had no idea who this Igneel fellow was, but he began to snicker. This was not what he had excepting from any dragon, let alone one who had single-handedly destroyed an entire gang of bandits. The snicker soon grew into a stomach-holding laugh so loud that even though he couldn't see Metalicana's face, Gajeel was sure that the dragon was offended.

"I'm serious! Cut it out!" But Metalicana's attempt in quieting Gajeel just made him laugh louder. After a few more seconds, the laughter caught on, and the drake joined the boy on his back in chortling.

Very few humans had ever heard a dragon's true, joyous laugh, but it was something to behold. The sound was a deep baritone that rumbled through the sky with impossible volume. The tops of the trees they were flying over rustled with the force of it. And, of course, it made Gajeel laugh all the harder.

Metalicana regained his composure faster than his rider because he was the first to realize the danger he and his son were in. He had unconsciously tucked in his wings as he laughed, and now they were plummeting towards the earth at an extreme velocity. Gajeel cried out as the air was yanked out of his chest, and his eyes streamed from the wind beating against them.

Then, fast as light, wings were out again, creating makeshift parachutes. Metalicana grimaced as the air roughly snapped his wings up. Just before he crashed into the trees, the dragon pulled up. Still, the tops of the evergreens still scratched against his underbelly as he regained his balance. That was going to need some help later.

"Let's… not do… that… again…" Metalicana panted. Gajeel nodded furiously, and when the dragon had regained his composure, he continued, "Seriously, kid. Making a dragon laugh while he is in the air is _not_ a good idea. Especially when you are riding him." The small boy nodded again, but a grin still played at his lips. Even though that fall could have ended badly, the adrenaline coursing through Gajeel's veins was something new. It was exhilarating, a feeling he had never felt before.

"Will… do!" The boy pushed the words out of a huge smile that cut his face in half. He was leaving. No, scratch that, he had already left. He had left Semotus, something that Gajeel had only imagined happening in his dreams. And on the back of a dragon, no less. "Um, Metalicana? Where are we going?" In reality, there was millions of questions that he wanted to ask in that moment. Why did Metalicana even want Gajeel to come with him in the first place? What was going to happen next? Was he ever going back to his village? Yet, starting simply seemed like a good idea for the moment.

"Hm?" Metalicana asked. "Ah, question time, I see." The dragon had been expecting the boy's general happiness to fade at some point; after all, he had just seen his parents corpses laying in the dirt. Metalicana was quite honestly surprised when Gajeel had immediately agreed to come with him. He was only just orphaned. Usually it takes some time for one to move on. Unless, of course, the parents had been less than agreeable. The drake pushed that thought to the corner of his mind. There was time for that later. Now was the time for Metalicana's explanation. Gajeel's could come later. Whenever the boy was ready.

"We are going to my lair." Metalicana began, "And I am adopting you." Blunt is the best way to go, at least that was how it usually worked in a dragon's world. Gajeel blinked slowly.

"Adopting… me?" The poor boy was only just wrapping his head around being an orphan, on the fact that dragons actually exist, and on his newfound distance from the town of his birth. Now the dragon tells him he was getting adopted? After the initial shock, Gajeel turned giddy. A dragon. A dragon was adopting HIM? Gajeel the demon-eyed boy? The giddiness evaporated as fast as it had came. The demon-eyed boy… that was right. Metalicana didn't know about his Jashi yet.

 _But maybe, maybe he wouldn't care…_ Gajeel dared to hope, something he rarely did. _And anyway, I have my cap. I can just keep it on._

The drake continued, "Yes, adopting you. Except… without all the paperwork and all that other boring legal stuff." Out of all the dragons, Grandeeney was the only one that Metalicana could see doing that. He snorted as the picture of Grandeeney trying to hold a quill between two go her giant talons popped into his head. Gajeel looked at him oddly, and he quickly turned the snort into a cough. "Anyway, I was lonely, so I figured why not," Metalicana lied. He and the other four dragons had agreed to keep the true reason for adopting their orphans a secret. Gajeel nodded, warming up to the idea.

 _Maybe this could work._ Gajeel thought. _Wow, my life sure is filled with 'maybes.'_

A cliff face, slightly less steep than the one above the lake, appeared in the distance. "Almost there," the dragon said happily. His rider shook his head, clearing it of other thoughts, and turned towards the destination.

The rising sun splayed color across the rock, turning them a rosy gray. Holes were splattered across it's surface. Gajeel yawned. He had been up all night at this point, and so much had happened…

Gajeel's last thought before he fell asleep was, _Yeah, this might just work…_

* * *

 **This chapter is so much shorter than the first. ;( BUT, I also feel like it was of better quality. Please review! What do you think of the new edits on this (making Gajeel seem tired and unlike himself)? You will see what he is really like in the next you next time! XP**


	3. Ch 3 -- Of Caverns and Changes

**HELLO READERS! Thank you so very much for reading this chapter (if you are going to). I also changed a little bit of the second chapter before I uploaded this to make them fit better - BUT it is not a big enough change that you have to read it. :) It is going to be very important with the whole Gajeel-coping with his life thing. Don't worry, though, he's not just going to immediately adjust. He was really tired and kind of not aware of what he was doing last chapter… Anyways, enjoy the read. :-) Oh, and one more thing. Whenever there is italics it is Gajeel thinking. (I think you can tell when this is not true because I might have missed some when I was changing the accented words from italics.)**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL!**

 **-Lichenwing**

* * *

 **Black Steel Gajeel**

 **Ch.3**

 **Of Caverns and Changes**

* * *

Gajeel was surrounded by the shadows. His eyes were useless against the penetrating darkness, and his ears were only met with the muted hum of silence. He struggled to his feet, but they only sunk into the murky ground. His ankles were soon completely covered by a gooey substance. Then his knees. Then the first half of his torso. Gajeel clawed at the ground above him, panic taking over his movements. But, his fingers slipped off of the surface as if he was trying to get a grip on a huge slab of Jell-O.

Breaths came quickly and uneven as Gajeel sunk farther into the floor. Now only his head was above the ground, and it certainly did nothing to help the desperation wreaking havoc on his mind.

The liquified floor inched it's way up to Gajeel's chin, and before he knew what was happening, it had leaked it's way into his mouth.

The stuff tasted like burnt tires and old rags.

He gagged, but only succeeded in allowing more of the burning fluid to pour down his throat. Now he was choking on the stuff, coughing up the vile concoction.

And then it reached his nose.

 _Huh, it seems I can't breathe,_ was Gajeel's first thought. Then, _I CAN'T BREATHE I CAN'T BREATHE I CAN'T BREATHE!_ His eyes widened at the lack of oxygen, and soon the phrase was repeating in his head like it was a mantra. Over and over again the words spiraled through his mind, burning as much as the taste in his mouth. As the goo reached over his ears, he began to hear something.

"Why don't you grieve for us, boy? We know you don't. Where is your humanity, boy?" The sound that Gajeel had hoped to never hear again echoed through the muck, sending vibrations throughout his entire body. The voices of his parents. He tried to yell back at the voices to go away, to leave him alone, but the burning fluid blocked the sound. Instead, he just floundered there, waiting for the liquid to cover the rest of his face. Gajeel squeezed his eyes shut as the stuff reached them, fear wrapping him in his grasp and then…

It was all gone.

The panic, the murk, the searing sensation. All of it vanished with no warning.

The only thing that remained was the echo of three words in the back of his head.

Light filtered in through his eyelids, and that was when Gajeel knew it had all been a dream. A horridly realistic dream, but a dream all the same.

He slowly opened his eyes and sat up to take in his surroundings. He was sitting in a cave, which sounds extremely uncomfortable, but this was the opposite. A mattress of moss covered the floor, and Gajeel reached out a hand to touch the plant, marveling at how soft it felt against his palm. The room was surprisingly warm, and every few seconds the boy could feel a gust of warm air on his back. But why was he here? Where were his parents?

Warm air on his back…

Gajeel slowly turned around, and there he was. Metalicana the Iron Dragon. The events of the past day came rushing back to him. A hand flew to his cap, a habit that the boy had picked up a few years back, something he did when nervous. Then, he let out a shuddery breath. His parents were… gone, and replaced with a dragon of all things. Even after a night to soak it in, it was still quite overwhelming. On top of all of that, the same drake didn't know of his Jashi.

But did dragons even believe in such things? Gajeel didn't know, but he hoped they didn't.

He also hoped they didn't eat people… did they? Was that why the dragon had brought him here? For dinner? Gajeel shakily stood up and backed up against one of the walls of the cave. _I-I have to get of here…_

The dragon in question's eye was peacefully shut, and the low, even breaths that rumbled out of his snout showed that he was probably having a good dream. Did dragons even have dreams?

 _Lucky reptile,_ Gajeel thought bitterly. The boy could't remember the last time he had had a good dream. They usually weren't as bad as the one he had just had, though. Why wasn't he grieving? Any other child would be…

And then, suddenly and with no warning, Gajeel was laughing his head off. His parents were DEAD, and he was being raised by a DRAGON! How absurd was that?! He laughed louder. It must be a dream. It must be. It was just too good, too whimsical. He would wake up and be sleeping on his cot once again. Oh, it was too good to happen to him. Or was it too bad? The laughing stopped. Too good, too bad to happen to him, oh why didn't his mind just stop playing tricks on him already?! Gajeel stood up and began to pinch his arm, over and over again, desperately trying to hold onto his fractured, isolated sense of reality. He had never been so confused before in his life…

"Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake UP!" His voice grew from a whisper to a shout. The boy was getting frantic, pupils dilating to the size of pinpricks. "WAKE UP!" He screamed, voice hoarse.

Then there was a weight on his shoulder, and Gajeel whipped around. There was Metalicana, looking worriedly at the boy. He shuddered.

"We need to talk, kid." The dragon said roughly. Yet, his tone had a cautiousness to it, as if he was talking to a wild animal and not a small boy.

"NOT REAL NOT REAL NOT REAL!" Gajeel shrieked, throwing up his hands in front of him, almost as if they could ward off the dragon he so desperately wanted to believe wasn't really there. It was simply too much of a shock to his already fragile terms of reality.

Metalicana stood there for a few moments. It really was shocking, the sudden change in the boy's attitude from yesterday to today. It was almost as if he was a different person…

"NOT REAL!" At the sound of his adoptee's **(A/N: IT IS A REAL WORD! I SWEAR!)** high-pitched voice, the drake decided to end the hysteria.

"Aw, shut up." He said softly, and when Gajeel didn't calm down, he reached out with one massive paw and tenderly picked up one of his hands between two of his claws. Though he struggled, Metalicana was much stronger than the boy, and the hand was soon being directed towards the drake's mouth. His huge, toothy mouth.

 _He's going to eat me!_ The thought forced it's way into Gajeel's chaotic, confused mind. He tugged harder, but to no avail.

Instead, Metalicana pressed the boy's hand to his neck. "You feel that, kid?" He said. Gajeel's eyes widened. The thump of the dragon's heartbeat shivered up his arm. He blinked. Then, painfully slowly, some of the franticness began to drain from his features until Metalicana could no longer smell the sour scent of insanity anywhere on him. But, he was still filled with suspicion. The dragon was beginning to realize this wouldn't be as easy as he had originally thought it to be.

"…real…" Gajeel whispered before heavily sitting down. He sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall, grateful when Metalicana backed up a bit, giving the boy his much-needed distance.

 _This is actually real…_ he thought., mind clearing a bit. He was still shaken up, though. It was the first time he had ever gotten so hysterical, so… insane. Who knew what might have happened if the dragon hadn't snapped him out of it. _But, I still need to keep my guard up. Metalicana sounded unsure the other night when he said he was lonely… I don't really believe him. Those teeth were so sharp. Oh, why did I go with him at all?!_

The truth was that, because of the fatigue pulling at his senses, Gajeel had been completely different than usual yesterday. In truth, he was actually the kind of person who only trusted themselves, and would have probably just ran away from the village, bandits, and dragon had he been feeling like himself. Cowardly, you think? With his upbringing, it was no surprise.

 _I need to wait for the right time to escape,_ he thought to himself.

Gajeel was wrenched out of his thoughts when Metalicana spoke. "C'mon kid, I'm gonna give you a tour of the house." His rough voice almost reminded the shaggy-haired boy of the village blacksmith's, filled with an iron conviction along with the rough accent. He nodded, and followed the drake as he walked out through a hole in the all.

 _But only because I need to know the layout of this place if I ever want to get out…_

The ground in the tunnel was stone, barren of plant life, unlike the room he had slept in. It was a roundish circle, with smooth corners and a curving floor. The ceiling was amazingly high, but he guessed it had to be for a dragon the size of the one in front of him now to fit. A little bit farther down, Gajeel could see the traces of another tunnel.

"Well, the cave 'ere we just were was the… bedroom, I guess you'd call it," Metalicana started. "And this is what I call the main hallway. All of the other caves and passages sprout out from this." He continued to walk, and Gajeel had to sprint to keep up with his long strides. By the time they had reached the next room, the boy was panting heavily and his legs were burning.

"You would call this cave the kitchen." The room was smaller than the bedroom, not as rocky as the hallway, but still with less moss than the former. A small spring bubbled in the corner, and there was a pile of iron off-center.

 _Odd,_ Gajeel thought.

But not as odd as what he saw next. There was a small section of dirt, and growing out of it was something rather familiar.

"P-potatoes?!" The boy spluttered, not believing his eyes. Just what kind of dragon ate potatoes?!

"I happen to find them refreshing." Metalicana said seriously.

Gajeel kicked the floor with his boot. "D-do you eat people?" He said softly, so softly that if it wasn't for his remarkable hearing, the dragon wouldn't of heard anything at all.

The drake tapped his chin with a claw. "Occasionally, if they've made me mad."

He didn't mean to, he didn't want to, but at this point, Gajeel was shivering on his boots. Metalicana glanced at the boy, immediately noticing his fright, and scoffed.

"I was jokin', boy."

Gajeel wasn't so sure about that… what else could those razor-sharp teeth be for? His mind strained to come up with an answer, and when he couldn't find any, the dread in the pit of his stomach grew.

"Anyway, we'll probably come back here later, so just c'mon already. Stop starin' at the potatoes like one of 'em is your long lost lover." Gajeel blushed; he had been staring at the potatoes when he spaced out, something he was used to doing since there usually weren't any other people with him. But, he quickly caught himself, and the red vanished from his cheeks.

 _Focus, Gajeel._ He told himself.

The dragon strolled out of the cavern, and Gajeel ran to keep up with him. He was not about to let the drake out of his sight.

They passed a room while they walked, one filled to the brim with metal scraps. Once again, that curiousness rose up inside of him. _This dragon is weird,_ he thought, stopping for a few seconds to stare at the iron. But, he had to cut his inspection of the cave short when a voice called to him from another room.

"C'mon, kid! What you waiting for?!"

 _Shoot._

"Comin'!" He yelled, jogging towards the cavern where he heard the voice come from. Then, abruptly, he stopped. _Am I really picking up some of that dragon's accent ALREADY?!_

"I'M GETTING OLDER HERE!" The dragon be

llowed, and, Gajeel was ashamed to say, he squeaked and scampered to the cave from where the sound emanated.

Once inside, he stopped, dumbstruck.

This cave was bigger than the other three combined.

It's ceiling was high enough for three Metalicanas to stand on top of one another. The floor was powdered with sand, and pieces of metal were scattered across it.

 _Again with the metal._

"This," the dragon began, "is the training room."

* * *

 **TA-DAAAAAAAAAA! Third chapter! What did you guys think of Metalicana's rougher talking that I integrated? (And on top of that, Gajeel's new personality?) I don't even know where his panic attack thing came from. *sweat-drops* Sorry… As always, please read and review. XD**

* * *

 **Review Replies:**

 **odoole (Guest) — I think this is the longest review I have ever gotten 0.0 I was worried about the reception I would get for making the dragons sort of have personalities from my mind (and the whole Skiadrum/Weisslogia twins thing), but this makes me really happy! :) The whole cursed eye thing kind of came to me when I was watching Naruto. (It only had a little bit to do with the Sharingan I swear! *sweat-drops*) So yeah, thanks a million for this review, seeing it made my day! XP**

 **LateNightShips — FIRST REVIEW! (I think….. is the bottom one first or the top? Wait, never mind, the dates are different) I agree on the fact that there are A LOT of stories about Lucy, and some of them are really repetitive and go against her character, but I really do enjoy most of them! And sometimes some of the really cheesy ones that would never happen… I am so torn between NaLu and Sticy :( (Though I feel that GaLe needs more stories… but that might just because they are my OTP…) Anyway, thank you SOOOO much for writing this! :)**


	4. Important Update

**Dear Readers,**

 **I have undergone a challenge. My fanfic, 365, to be exact. I will post one one-shot a day for a year. I am sincerely sorry. I promise I will continue this after, and it will actually be better thanks to improved writing** **skills (hopefully).**

 **Yours truly,**

 **Lichenwing**


End file.
